Freddie's Focus
For Parents & Carers
- Issue 172
- September 18, 2026
Freddie's Focus
For Parents & Carers
- Issue 172
- September 18, 2026
Message from the Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
As parents, we all know the pride that comes from seeing our child bring home a certificate, award or piece of work that they are proud of. More often than not, it ends up displayed on the fridge, where it serves as a daily reminder of their achievement and the effort that made it possible.
At school, we want to create that same feeling every day for every student.
This year, we are developing our Buzz of Excellence, inspired by the iconic Manchester Bee, a symbol of hard work, energy, community and pride. Through this initiative, we want to create a school culture where achievement is recognised, effort is celebrated and excellence is visible everywhere. As we shared with students in our recent assembly on the Buzz of Excellence, the aim is simple: the buzz belongs to all of us.
The Buzz of Excellence is about much more than academic success. It is about recognising the qualities that help young people thrive: determination, resilience, kindness, contribution, leadership, creativity and a willingness to give their very best. We want our students to understand that excellence is not reserved for a select few; it is something that everyone can strive for and achieve in their own way.
In the assembly, we spoke about how praise can transform young people’s belief in themselves, sharing the message that:
Praise is powerful because it turns effort into confidence and confidence into possibility.
When students feel recognised, they become more confident. When they become more confident, they are more willing to challenge themselves, take risks in their learning and reach new heights. That is why we believe celebrating success is such an important part of school life.
The Buzz of Excellence will help us build a community where students celebrate students, staff celebrate students, and students celebrate staff. We want young people to notice brilliance wherever they see it, whether that is an outstanding piece of work, a thoughtful act of kindness, a courageous contribution in class or exceptional effort in an extra-curricular activity. As we told students, we are committed to creating a school full of energy, effort, encouragement and pride.
As a school we have many ways to share the achievements of our students: BEST tickets are handed out at the end of each lesson; subject postcards and badges; students receive rewards points on Satchel One and Students appear on Freddie’s Focus on the Stars which we subsequently share on social media. I am pleased to say that last year, 85% of our students appeared on Freddie’s Focus on the Stars at least once.
An important aspect of the initiative is encouraging students to use their voices positively. We want them to develop the confidence and oracy skills to praise others, recognise excellence and celebrate the achievements of their peers. In a world where criticism can sometimes be louder than encouragement, we want our students to understand the power of recognising the strengths and successes of others.
We are also encouraging students to share their achievements beyond the classroom. Whether they excel in sport, music, drama, community service, scouting, dance, competitions or any other activity outside school, we want to hear about it and celebrate it. Excellence does not stop at the school gates, and neither should our recognition of it.
As parents and carers, you play a vital role in helping us grow this culture. By talking to your child about their successes, encouraging them to participate in extra-curricular opportunities and celebrating their efforts as well as their achievements, you help reinforce the message that excellence comes from commitment, perseverance and pride in doing one’s best.
Together, we can create a school where achievement is noticed, effort is valued and every child experiences the excitement of receiving that all-important buzz of recognition.
After all, if an award is worthy of a place on the fridge at home, it deserves to be celebrated throughout our school as well.
Thank you for your continued support as we work together to create a genuine Buzz of Excellence and ensure that every student has the opportunity to shine.
The Buzz belongs to all of us.
Mr Davies.
Message from the Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
As parents, we all know the pride that comes from seeing our child bring home a certificate, award or piece of work that they are proud of. More often than not, it ends up displayed on the fridge, where it serves as a daily reminder of their achievement and the effort that made it possible.
At school, we want to create that same feeling every day for every student.
This year, we are developing our Buzz of Excellence, inspired by the iconic Manchester Bee, a symbol of hard work, energy, community and pride. Through this initiative, we want to create a school culture where achievement is recognised, effort is celebrated and excellence is visible everywhere. As we shared with students in our recent assembly on the Buzz of Excellence, the aim is simple: the buzz belongs to all of us.
The Buzz of Excellence is about much more than academic success. It is about recognising the qualities that help young people thrive: determination, resilience, kindness, contribution, leadership, creativity and a willingness to give their very best. We want our students to understand that excellence is not reserved for a select few; it is something that everyone can strive for and achieve in their own way.
In the assembly, we spoke about how praise can transform young people’s belief in themselves, sharing the message that:
Praise is powerful because it turns effort into confidence and confidence into possibility.
When students feel recognised, they become more confident. When they become more confident, they are more willing to challenge themselves, take risks in their learning and reach new heights. That is why we believe celebrating success is such an important part of school life.
The Buzz of Excellence will help us build a community where students celebrate students, staff celebrate students, and students celebrate staff. We want young people to notice brilliance wherever they see it, whether that is an outstanding piece of work, a thoughtful act of kindness, a courageous contribution in class or exceptional effort in an extra-curricular activity. As we told students, we are committed to creating a school full of energy, effort, encouragement and pride.
As a school we have many ways to share the achievements of our students: BEST tickets are handed out at the end of each lesson; subject postcards and badges; students receive rewards points on Satchel One and Students appear on Freddie’s Focus on the Stars which we subsequently share on social media. I am pleased to say that last year, 85% of our students appeared on Freddie’s Focus on the Stars at least once.
An important aspect of the initiative is encouraging students to use their voices positively. We want them to develop the confidence and oracy skills to praise others, recognise excellence and celebrate the achievements of their peers. In a world where criticism can sometimes be louder than encouragement, we want our students to understand the power of recognising the strengths and successes of others.
We are also encouraging students to share their achievements beyond the classroom. Whether they excel in sport, music, drama, community service, scouting, dance, competitions or any other activity outside school, we want to hear about it and celebrate it. Excellence does not stop at the school gates, and neither should our recognition of it.
As parents and carers, you play a vital role in helping us grow this culture. By talking to your child about their successes, encouraging them to participate in extra-curricular opportunities and celebrating their efforts as well as their achievements, you help reinforce the message that excellence comes from commitment, perseverance and pride in doing one’s best.
Together, we can create a school where achievement is noticed, effort is valued and every child experiences the excitement of receiving that all-important buzz of recognition.
After all, if an award is worthy of a place on the fridge at home, it deserves to be celebrated throughout our school as well.
Thank you for your continued support as we work together to create a genuine Buzz of Excellence and ensure that every student has the opportunity to shine.
The Buzz belongs to all of us.
Mr Davies.
Things to celebrate
- We are already seeing large numbers of our students taking the opportunity to get involved with our extra-curricular activities. We want all of our students to enhance their experience at Freddie’s by taking part in extra-curricular. Please encourage your child to get involved.
- A huge well done to our new school prefects, who have settled into their roles brilliantly this academic year!
- Sporting Success this week
The team produced an outstanding performance against Rylands Sharks, eventually finishing as runners-up in a closely contested match. Facing opponents who currently sit top of the league in the division above them, the Leigh Miners players demonstrated tremendous determination, skill and resilience throughout the game.
Harvey Barrett made a significant impact by scoring two tries, while Archie Kuerschner successfully converted both tries, helping keep the contest finely balanced until the final whistle. Despite their efforts, Leigh Miners narrowly missed out, with the match ending 22-16 in favour of Rylands Sharks.
To reach the final and push such strong opposition all the way is a fantastic achievement. Everyone at Fred Longworth High School is incredibly proud of Finley, Harvey, Blake and Archie for representing both their club and school with distinction. Well done on a superb season and an excellent cup run.
We are always excited to learn of any sporting successes outside of school so we can celebrate the student’s achievements. Please email Mr Gregory with any information so we can share with everyone on Freddie’s Focus – gregoryi@flhs.wigan.sch.uk
Sporting Success this week
The team produced an outstanding performance against Rylands Sharks, eventually finishing as runners-up in a closely contested match. Facing opponents who currently sit top of the league in the division above them, the Leigh Miners players demonstrated tremendous determination, skill and resilience throughout the game.
Harvey Barrett made a significant impact by scoring two tries, while Archie Kuerschner successfully converted both tries, helping keep the contest finely balanced until the final whistle. Despite their efforts, Leigh Miners narrowly missed out, with the match ending 22-16 in favour of Rylands Sharks.
To reach the final and push such strong opposition all the way is a fantastic achievement. Everyone at Fred Longworth High School is incredibly proud of Finley, Harvey, Blake and Archie for representing both their club and school with distinction. Well done on a superb season and an excellent cup run.
We are always excited to learn of any sporting successes outside of school so we can celebrate the student’s achievements. Please email Mr Gregory with any information so we can share with everyone on Freddie’s Focus – gregoryi@flhs.wigan.sch.uk
Information for parents of SEND students
We’d like to signpost to parents a new PADLET that has been created by Wigan LA to make parents aware of specific services that are available to support neuro-diverse students.
https://padlet.com/Thrive_in_Wigan/neurodevelopmental-support-n944neepu5gjvosy
This is additional to the other Wigan PADLET which serves as a useful gateway to all the services that support children in the Wigan area. Both PADLETS are regularly updated so it is worthwhile frequently checking-in for current information and updates.
https://padlet.com/WiganCAMHS/wigan-mhst-info-board-nu69chp8ifamla8q
Embrace also offer a range of on-line courses to support parents. Details of these can be found here:
https://www.embracewiganandleigh.org.uk/behaviour-support-workshops/?cn-reloaded=1
The following link provides a useful gateway to all services that support children in the Wigan area. This page is regularly updated so it is worthwhile frequently checking-in for current information and updates.
https://padlet.com/WiganCAMHS/wigan-mhst-info-board-nu69chp8ifamla8q
We can also recommend this website as a source of useful information for the parents of neurodiverse children and teens.
What we do at Freddie's and why we do it
In lessons and in assemblies here at Freddie’s, we use something called ‘SLANT’ as a way of ensuring that we get full attention from your child. We don’t want any students to miss out on instructions or key pieces of information. Establishing full attention and avoiding distractions are vital in supporting learning. Above is an image that we present in all classrooms so that we can explicitly share what each part of ‘SLANT’ means. We also regularly remind our students why SLANT matters and why it is there to support their learning and success at Freddie’s.
‘Habits accelerate learning’
Year 7 to Year 10
100 HoY Mug/Earphones/Water Bottle/Skip the queue pass
175 MTA Power Bank/Skip the queue pass/Calculator/£5 Amazon voucher
250 MTA £10 Amazon voucher/Skip the queue pass
350 PDA £15 Amazon voucher/Skip the queue pass
Year 11
100 HoY £5 Amazon voucher/£5 off Prom
150 MTA £10 Amazon voucher/£10 off Prom
200 PDA £15 Amazon voucher/£15 off Prom
How to support your child to become an independent learner
Below are some of our study skills strategies which we encourage students to use as a method of helping them to retain information in the long-term memory. Actively doing something with the information that they have been taught is a really useful way of learning and remembering:
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Applications that we use for learning
The following applications are used by our students during their time at FLHS to aid their learning. You can learn more about them below.
Microsoft Office
Did you know that your child can access Microsoft Office at home for free? As a student at Fred Longworth High School, your child is allowed to download a fully working free copy of Microsoft Office 365 to use on their computer, smartphone and tablet whilst they are a student at our school. Click on the button below to learn more.
Satchel:One
Satchel:One is the school online learning platform for students and is the parental portal for all information related to your child’s overall progress within school. You can keep track of your child’s homework using Satchel:One. It is advisable to remind your child to get into the habit of checking their homework on Satchel:One regularly. Relying upon notifications is not the right approach and we advise students to turn off notifications so that they are not disturbed by them.
GCSEPod
GCSEPod is an online study platform and is the perfect resource to help your child learn, retain and recall all the information they need to achieve their GCSE goals. GCSEPod provides 3-5 minute bursts of audio-visual, teacher written learning which can help to reinforce and consolidate key GCSE topics covered in lessons. Experts read and explain everything clearly including all the right facts, quotes, keywords, dates and diagrams on screen. GCSEPod is only available to students in Year 10 and Year 11.
Homework Club
Please remind your child that homework club is available to all students Monday to Thursday where they can complete work in a quiet environment with staff on hand to support them, and computers for online quizzes and research.
Homework Intervention
If your child is not meeting deadlines or completing homework to the best of their ability, their teachers and/or Head of Year will refer them to our homework intervention group. Parents/ carers will receive a letter notifying you and to explain the night that your child will be required and for how long. This is a supportive intervention which is used to get students back on track with homework if they are struggling in this area.
Attendance
We want to do all we can to support your child to be in school every day and ask that you support this important message from home, encouraging your child to avoid missing curriculum content through absence. Here is a breakdown of the absences for the following attendance percentages:
Thank you for your continued support with attendance.
Please encourage your child to be in school every day.
Please ensure your child speaks to staff of any lessons where they miss work due to absence, this is to mitigate any impact of absence.
Can we please remind all our parents and carers to use the correct channels of communication should they wish to raise a concern or question. Your continued support is invaluable to us.
Belonging, Engaging, Succeeding Together.
Can we please remind all our parents and carers to use the correct channels of communication should they wish to raise a concern or question. Your continued support is invaluable to us.
